14 DAY TRIAL // The stable version of Google Chrome OS may have landed, but that doesn't mean that all work is done. With a slated release to actual devices set two months from now, the race is on to put the finishing touches and polish the rough corners.
The team has been busy adding some interesting new features, which may seem like pretty big ones, but haven't been deemed crucial so far.
Among them is an user interface for adding virtual private networks, something sorely missed by those that need it to connect to work or home remote networks.
The file browser, another lacking area in Chrome OS has seen some improvements as well and it now displays previews of selected files as well as thumbnails for images. The rest of the interface is getting the final touches as well.
Access to virtual private networks is one of the sore spots of any operating system and users get into trouble quite often, either because of the complexities of the system, poorly configured servers, poorly configured firewalls or just plain poor support in the OS.
The Chrome OS team has been working on adding support for VPN access in the OS for some time, it seems, but only now have gotten around to adding an UI to access all of the features.
"Add 'Private networks' submenu to the network menu, which lists active virtual networks and has 'Add private network...' item; Settings UI is incomplete and currently consists only of an overlay badge on the active wireless network when there is an active VPN," reads the description of the code adding the new UI.
The file browser has been criticized in Chrome OS and for good reason. While a cloud operating system doesn't need a powerful file browser, in theory, especially since Chrome OS doesn't have a local storage device in the traditional sense, users still expect some basic functionality and the ability to see the files they may have on external storage devices.
The file browser is getting better though, it now sports a preview pane which enables users to view the contents of a file as well as more details on it without opening it, and also generates thumbnails for images.